History Manga / RozenMaiden

** In ''Die Zwillinge'', [[spoiler:a man named Rudolph (more accurately, [[UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire Holy Roman Emperor]] Rudolph II) was one of Souseiseki's former masters. He was more interested with the dolls than his empire and loved doing anything that wasn't his duties as emperor. Their contract would unfortunately be cut short after his brother staged a coup for the throne.]]
** In ''Rot-Schwarz'', [[spoiler:it's revealed that [[Creator/MaryShelley Mary Shelley]] was one of Suigintou's former masters. The two were close until Shelley came up with the idea for her novel, ''Frankenstein''. Shelley explained that she felt a connection between the relationship between her and her father, and between Suigintou and Rozen. Suigintou holds her relationship to Rozen as sacred and was offended by Shelley comparing the two and, at least to her, basing Frankenstein and his creature off of them. During this conflict, Suigintou would break the contract between them.]]

* BuryYourGays: Suigintou and Megu's interactions with each other are very heavily coded as romantic to the point that during [[spoiler:the forming of their contract they recite wedding vows to each other as Suigintou slips her ring on Megu. They both end up dying in the final chapters of the manga, during which they confirm their romantic feelings for each other, though Suigintou gets better.]]

* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Nori Sakurada (and Jun), who actually are reasonably normal. More so with the reboot manga, where alternate!Jun is a much more ordinary ''university'' student, while he'd been quite academically gifted in high school.
* ParentalAbandonment - Jun's parents are always away.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rozen_maiden.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"I am Shinku -- the fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden."'']]

-->--'''Hinaichigo''', towards Shinku in the manga.

Shinku, the doll, immediately sets about correcting Jun's mannerisms, trying to convert him into her servant by default -- an attempt cut short by the appearance of a stuffed clown with a pair of menacing-looking knives. Jun, fearing for his life, agrees to become Shinku's medium (her supply of power so that she can fight), and is drawn from there into the strange world of the Rozen Maiden dolls and the [[AliceAllusion Alice game]].

The original anime series continued into a second season, called ''Rozen Maiden: Träumend''. Season one's BigBad, Suigintou, is supplanted by a new doll named Barasuishou, and it seems as if the mysterious Rozen, father of the Rozen Maiden, has finally appeared. The OVA, ''Rozen Maiden Ouverture'', focuses on Suigintou's {{backstory}}, and shows that Shinku wasn't as good a sister as she'd like to think.

Sadly, it was never finished because of [[ExecutiveMeddling a dispute between the producers and publishers of the manga]]. The anime OvertookTheManga and went to its own conclusion while the manga went on hiatus for months until it was finally CutShort with a DeusExMachina (and an apology for doing so).

Another manga series was published under the name ''Rozen Maiden Tale'' [[note]]this manga was also known as ''Rozen Maiden'' to the Japanese market, just written in katakana this time[[/note]]. It begins as a ForWantOfANail story starring a much older Jun Sakurada, which follows what would have happened if Jun had responded [[RedPillBluePill "do not wind"]] to the initial letter, and crosses over with the original universe. After a few volumes, the older Jun's story finishes, and the two universes separate again, with the story shifting back to the original universe, and the plot resuming where the original Manga ended, making ''Tale'', despite what it initially looked like, an actual continuation instead of an AlternateUniverse spin-off.

A second anime series started airing in the Summer2013Anime season, adapting the first arc of ''Tale'', with Creator/StudioDeen providing the animation instead of Nomad. This anime was subtitled ''Zurückspulen''.

In December 2015, it was announced that a new manga series would start being published in ''Ultra Jump'' starting early 2016, simply named ''Rozen Maiden 0''. This manga takes place in the Taisho era of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan. It concluded in March 2019 with 4 volumes.

* TheAce: Deconstructed by Jun, once you learn his backstory... when he was in school, [[spoiler: he excelled academically as well as being good at sports and crafts, and was highly popular with the other students. Then the sheer pressure of it all caused him to mentally collapse and turn into a {{Hikikomori}}.]]
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Suigintou]], twice.[[note]]First, when she is defeated in the first season, showing her incomplete body as she falls apart. Then in the second season, when she was about to attack Shinku, but held back because she did not want to hurt Megu, and finally make a DivingSave, shielding Shinku from Barasuishou's attack[[/note]]. Another is [[spoiler:Barasuishou]], although some call it a KarmicDeath considering [[ISurrenderSuckers how she defeated]] [[spoiler:Shinku]].

** Enju tries to replicate this, as shown when he brings a small doll to life, when Jun is visiting his shop [[spoiler: even though he has already done this with Barasuishou.]]

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Suigintou in Ouverture]].
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Suigintou]] dies in [[spoiler:''three'' parts of the anime]], only to be brought back [[spoiler:every time by Rozen]] (one can only wonder whether this fact decays her self-preservation). In Träumend, [[spoiler:''all'' Rozen Maiden]] got a bit farther than NearDeathExperience. Also, the animated normal doll (clown) in one of the scenes that prompted the dolls to take Jun more seriously.
** Over the course of the manga, [[spoiler:Souseiseki, Suiseiseki, and Shinku]] each experience this. The ending of the manga takes this further with [[spoiler:all of the dolls, [[HeroicSuicide except Shinku]], coming back from death.]]

* BigBad: Suigintou in the first season/portion of the manga, followed later by Barasuishou in the anime and Kirakishou in the manga.
* BerserkButton: In the first season, Suigintou does NOT take the word 'Junk' lightly, especially if it's directed to her.
* BreakTheCutie: Suigintou in Ouverture.

* ButtMonkey: The boy that keeps trying to ask Nori out. In a series all about having the courage to step forward and try he is the glaring exception that no matter how many times he gathers his courage to ask something always gets in his way; poor boy.

* ClockworkCreature: Granted, they're magical constructs, but it's still "Will you wind?" and they shut down when clockwork is blocked.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Jun ''was'' a sulking, thankless pile of rather childish fears and grievances, not whining only because he was too self-absorbed for it. Soon, he shocks the dolls by demonstrating talents worthy of a potential apprentice to Rozen, and powers ''three'' fighting Rozen Maiden at once without looking pale and swooning, while in ''all three'' parts of the anime we see some other mediums - one of whom was obviously more healthy - drained to within a hair's breadth of death by supporting only ''one''.

* EpiphanyTherapy: When Jun attempts to convince Kadzuki to let his mother wake from her coma, he realizes the similarities between the mother's safe, empty dream and his own life as a {{Hikikomori}}.
-->'''Jun Sakurada:''' Shut yourself... in a safe world...
* EroticDream
--->''Nori is in bed talking in her sleep.''
--->'''Nori:''' Jun, I can't, we're siblings!
* EscalatingWar: One of the most amusing episodes in the first season.

* ForWantOfANail: The Rozen Maidens need to be accepted by the mediums to ''exist'' in the world. ''Rozen Maiden Tales'' is a world without Rozen Maidens since Jun chose to not be Shinku's medium.
* GeckoEnding: The first anime series.
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Nori, to Jun, in episode 11 of the first season.

** [[spoiler: We did at the end of Traumend, notably.]]
* HeartwarmingOrphan: Megu. Suigintou in Ouverture before her StartOfDarkness.
** Actually averted for Megu. Although her personality is still as heartwarming as you'd expect it to be, she's not an orphan, and her father actually shows up once in the manga to talk with her. Also [[spoiler:events in ''Tale'' suggest [[CreepyChild she's not]] [[DeathSeeker that heartwarming, either]].]]

* IdiotCrows: In episode 5, a thieving crow invokes this.
* [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim If You Kill Her, You Will Be Just Like Her]]: In episode 12 of the second season, [[spoiler:Jun says this to Shinku when she's about to kill Barasuishou.]]
* IKissYourHand: In the anime, the contracts come from kissing the ring in the doll's hands. In the manga it's more like "I kiss the ring in ''my'' hand." ''Ouverture'' reveals that the dolls can break their contracts by kissing the ring in the medium's hand, causing it to break.

* ItBeganWithATwistOfFate: The manga started with Jun answering that yes, he will wind. ''Rozen Maiden Tale'' was initially about what would happen if Jun answered otherwise, before the series became a StealthSequel.

* MoralityPet: Megu for Suigintou. First, her medium's problem is obviously similar to her own, second, it's someone she can love without any conflict with "Father"s requests - which, in light of Ouverture, may be a part of the trouble.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: Episode 5 of Träumend is full of these moments. A couple examples are when Kanaria holds a gun up to Suiseiseki's face and it turns out to be a water gun, and when Hina Ichigo tries to put her letter to Jun in the mailbox complete with SlowMotionFall.

* MusicalisInterruptus: Happens in episode 11 of the first season, during the fight between Shinku and Suigintou.

* OddlyNamedSequel: The GratuitousGerman of ''Rozen Maiden: Träumend'' (Dreaming), ''Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre'' ("Opening" or "Beginning"), and ''Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen'' ("Rewind").

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Suigintou seems to believe she has sole rights to defeat anyone and everyone, particularly Shinku. [[spoiler:She actually dies because of it in Träumend]].
* OnTheNextEpisodeOfCatchPhrase: "Swear to me on this rose ring."

* ParentalAbandonment - Jun's parents throughout the show were always away.
** Rozen. [[spoiler:He DOES appear personally at the end of Traumend however, if only for a brief few moments. In fact, he's nice enough to allow the dolls another way to become Alice, without the need for the [[ThereCanOnlyBeOne Alice Game]].]]

** In the manga and in ''Ouverture'', Souseiseki is very obviously hawkish and aggressive and Suiseiseki is timid and passive.
* PowerCopying: In the anime taking another Rosa Mystica grants the owner's power.
* RealEventFictionalCause: Although never directly stated, it's heavily implied that the tremors happening in Rozen Maiden 0 will eventually lead to [[spoiler:The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which is being caused by the effects of the 0th Rozen Maiden's dreams consuming reality.]]

* ReplacementGoldfish:
** In the manga, [[spoiler: all of the dolls are this to Rozen after he lost his daughter due to an illness. He spent a long time mastering alchemy and dollmaking in order to bring her back, but ultimately lost track of his original goal and ended up trying to create the perfect girl instead.]]
** In the anime, Souseiseki is this for her master, whose son who died in a car accident.

* SchoolPlay: Episode 10, "Snow White".
* ShootTheMedicFirst: A variation of this occurs in regards to the mediums. While not medics in the strictest sense, they are a major source of the dolls' power in-universe, explained in-universe that the doll and the master share a soul as long as the contract is valid. If the medium dies, so does the doll, [[spoiler:as exemplified by Souseiseki attacking her master in the manga]].

* SiblingRivalry: All the dolls are sisters and they fight against each other, trying to take the life source of the other. Subverted with Suiseiseki who loves her sister so much she refuse to fight them, unless to protect her most beloved twin sister. [[spoiler:Played for drama when they are fighting to save their mediums, yet Suigintou and Kanaria are to stubborn to even stay with Shinku, Suiseiseki and Souseiseki and fight together against Kirakishou.]]

* StartOfDarkness: ''Rozen Maiden: Ouverture'', which details Suigintou's past.
* StealthSequel: ''Rozen Maiden Tale''. While it originally seems to be a ForWantOfANail take on Rozen Maiden, it quickly establishes that the universe of this manga is connected to the universe of the first. The story even goes back to the original universe after some time and completely resumes where the old manga left off.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Mix of abuse and affection in relationships between some dolls and their mediums. Also, see the first OP translation [[http://lyrics.wikia.com/Ali_Project:%E7%A6%81%E3%81%98%E3%82%89%E3%82%8C%E3%81%9F%E9%81%8A%E3%81%B3#English_Translation here]] .
* WellDoneSonGuy: Basically the motivation for every doll except Suiseiseki, who loves her sisters more than her father. Eventually, Shinku comes to feel the same way as Suiseiseki and in the manga, Souseiseki also comes to share the sentiment.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: the eventual fate of Barasuishou and Enju, even if the former crumbled to death.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Suigintou. Just try watching ''Ouverture'' without feeling bad for her.

* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: The sole mechanism of the Alice Game: The winner takes the loser's Roza Mystica and gains her powers, while the loser becomes a normal doll. [[spoiler:Subverted when Souseiseki's Roza Mystica starts hurting Suigintou, who stole it (Suiseiseki was the one meant to take her twin's Roza Mystica) but Hinaichigo's accepts Shinku smoothly. After some time of meditation, Suigintou understands that the real way to win the Alice Game is for the losing doll actually ''willingly giving'' her Roza Mystica, something that just can be done via trust and creating a bond.]]

* EvilAlbino: Suigintou, who has all the conditions necessary -- white hair, pink eyes, rarely if ever seen during the day, and is the BigBad in the first season.

In December 2015, it was announced that a new manga series would start being published in ''Ultra Jump'' starting early 2016, simply named ''Rozen Maiden 0''. This manga takes place in the Taisho era of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rozen-seriespage-tvtropes.jpg]]

* Really700YearsOld: All the Rozen Maiden dolls. Of course, it helps that they're, well, ''[[CaptainObvious dolls]]''.

A new manga series WAS published under the name ''Rozen Maiden Tale''. It begins as a ForWantOfANail story starring a much older Jun Sakurada, which follows what would have happened if Jun had responded [[RedPillBluePill "do not wind"]] to the initial letter, and crosses over with the original universe. After a few volumes, the older Jun's story finishes, and the two universes separate again, with the story shifting back to the original universe, and the plot resuming where the original Manga ended, making ''Tale'', despite what it initially looked like, an actual continuation instead of an AlternateUniverse spin-off.

In December 2015, it was announced that a new manga series would start being published in ''Ultra Jump'' starting early 2016, simply named ''Rozen Maiden 0'', which takes place in the Taisho era of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan.

* BackFromTheDead: Poor Suigintou dies the most TearJerker way possible in [[spoiler:''three'' parts of the anime]], only to be brought back [[spoiler:every time by Rozen]] (one can only wonder whether this fact decays her self-preservation). In Träumend, [[spoiler:''all'' Rozen Maiden]] got a bit farther than NearDeathExperience. Also, the animated normal doll (clown) in one of the scenes that prompted the dolls to take Jun more seriously.

* {{Bokukko}}: Souseiseki, who's commonly called [[FanNickname Boku]] by fans.

* BrotherSisterIncest: Nori fantasizes about her brother in her sleep and wonders why he hasn't taken an interest in stealing her underwear.
** The part about the [[PantyThief stealing of her panties]] is not necessarily an expression of... unusual feelings for her brother. She apparently thinks [[AllMenArePerverts that stealing lingerie is a part of the normal sexual development of a man]]. [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Maybe...]]

** [[MemeticMutation DESU!]]

* CompressedAdaptation: The 2013 anime series' first episode crammed the story of the first seven manga volumes into roughly 22 minutes. [[BrokenBase Fan reaction to this approach is extremely mixed, to say the least.]]
* CostumePorn

* CutShort: Thanks to some ExecutiveMeddling for the original manga.

* DistaffCounterpart: Take ''Manga/ZatchBell''. Switch demon children for cursed dolls. Switch Spellbook for Rosa Mystica. Switch 'become king' for 'become Alice'. Switch 'teen genius' for 'teen loser'. Notice a pattern yet? Be ready for serious mamodo deja vu, if you plan on watching this.
* DontSaySuchStupidThings

* HeartwarmingOrphan: Megu always, Suigintou in Ouverture before her StartOfDarkness.

* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Suiseiseki does this to Souseiseki.

* PolarOppositeTwins: The -seiseki twins; their heterochromia are even on opposite sides. Souseiseki is calm, collected, thoughtful and doesn't overuse her VerbalTic; Suiseiseki is loud, naughty, haughty and [[MemeticMutation overuses her verbal tic]].

* ScrewySquirrel: Suiseiseki.

* StealthSequel: ''Rozen Maiden Tale''.

* VerbalTic: Every last one of the Maidens, though it's more prevelant in the original Japanese then the dubbed version. The [[MemeticMutation "desu!"]] tic of Suiseiseki is totally nonpresent in the dubbed anime, for example, while the characters trying to figure out what Hinaichigo's "unyuu" actually is forms the plot point of an early episode.

* BattleButler: Inverted.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind

* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: The N-Fields.

* AMagicContractComesWithAKiss
* {{Magitek}}

* MusicalAssassin: Kanaria.

* [[spoiler:ParentalIncest: Jun is Rozen, and all of the dolls lust after him.]]
* PerpetualMolt: Suigintou.

* PowerCopying: Taking another Rosa Mystica grants the owner's power.

** In the manga, all seven dolls are failed attempts of Rozen of recreating the original perfect doll girl after she got broken.
** Souseiseki is this for her master, whose son who died in a car accident.

In December 2015, it was announced that a new manga series would start being published in ''Ultra Jump'' starting early 2016, simply named ''Rozen Maiden: 0 -Zero-'', which, as the name implies, is a {{prequel}} taking place in the 19th century.

->''"[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkVYHUMCCwc Desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu!]]"''
-->--[[MemeticMutation The Internet]] on ''Rozen Maiden''

->''"I am Shinku -- the fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden."''

* XMeetsY: Literature/{{Pinocchio}} + Franchise/{{Highlander}}, ''[[MemeticMutation desu]]'' (like [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/highlander_chibi2_1700.jpg this]]).

->''"Desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu, desu!"''

-->'''Sakurada Jun:''' Shut yourself... in a safe world...

* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Sakurada Nori (and Jun), who actually are reasonably normal. More so with the reboot manga, where alternate!Jun is a much more ordinary ''university'' student, while he'd been quite academically gifted in high school.

A second anime series started airing in the Summer2013Anime season, adapting the first arc of ''Tale'', with Creator/StudioDeen providing the animation instead of Nomad.

* OddlyNamedSequel: ''Rozen Maiden: Träumend'' and ''Rozen Maiden: Ouvertüre''.
** The Subtitle of the former is GratuitousGerman and means "Dreaming", while the latter means "Opening/Beginning".

Sakurada Jun is a boy with a trauma in his past and a strange hobby: He collects supposedly cursed items in the hope that one of them will actually turn out to be cursed. One day, he receives a letter which simply says, "Will you wind? Yes / No". Responding in the affirmative, he sticks the letter in his desk drawer and thinks nothing more of it until an ornate case arrives with a beautiful clockwork doll inside. True to his word, Jun does wind, which causes the doll to become animated.

* DistaffCounterpart: Take ''GashBell''. Switch demon children for cursed dolls. Switch Spellbook for Rosa Mystica. Switch 'become king' for 'become Alice'. Switch 'teen genius' for 'teen loser'. Notice a pattern yet? Be ready for serious mamodo deja vu, if you plan on watching this.

In December 2015, it was announced that a new manga series would start being published in ''Ultra Jump'' starting early 2016, simply named ''Rozen Maiden: 0 -Zero-''. In which manner this will expand upon the story is at this point unknown.

* GeckoEnding: Thanks to some ExecutiveMeddling the last volume of the original manga was CutShort.

* IKissYourHand: In the anime, the contracts come from kissing the ring in the doll's hands. In the manga it's more like "I kiss the ring in ''my'' hand."

A new manga series is currently being published under the name ''Rozen Maiden Tale''. It begins as a ForWantOfANail story starring a much older Jun Sakurada, which follows what would have happened if Jun had responded [[RedPillBluePill "do not wind"]] to the initial letter, and crosses over with the original universe. After a few volumes, the older Jun's story finishes, and the two universes separate again, with the story shifting back to the original universe, and the plot resuming where the original Manga ended, making ''Tale'', despite what it initially looked like, an actual continuation instead of an AlternateUniverse spin-off.

* [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Ridiculously Human Dolls]]: Justified due to their {{magitech}} nature.

* {{Magitech}}

* ReplacementGoldfish: In the manga, all seven dolls are failed attempts of Rozen of recreating the original perfect doll girl after she got broken.

* ShowWithinAShow: "[[DetectiveConan Detective Kun-kun]]". Every single one of the Rozen Maidens has shown to be huge fans of the show, including, hilariously, [[NotSoAboveItAll Suigintou]]. [[spoiler:The exception being Kirakishou, who probably hasn't ever had the opportunity to even know it exists.]]